WE ARE MONSTERS
by Bakunawa
Summary: She has never known the love of a parent or a kind affection from a friend. She has been all alone her entire life, deprived and abused. Now she knows why. Fem!NarutoxSasuke.
1. Chapter 1

**WE ARE MONSTERS**

by: _Bakunawa_

* * *

Once there appeared a Nine-tailed Fox Demon. Its mighty tails could crumble mountains and cause tsunamis. To fight the demon the people assembled all the shinobi from the village. One brave shinobi was able to seal up the demon, but because of that he lost his life. That shinobi was called the Fourth Hokage.

* * *

"Why were you doing that to the monument?" Iruka asks, frustration evident in his voice, "Don't you know who the Hokage are?"

"Of course I know!" Naruto answers with her mouth full of noodles, "Basically, those who get the Hokage title... are the strongest shinobi of this village, right?"

The blonde girl pauses for another slurp of soup. "And among them is the Fourth Hokage," she continues, "A hero who saved the village from a big bad Fox Demon."

"Then why?" This was not Naruto's first case for vandalism. Wasn't even the second and for sure won't be the last. But seriously, the girl has some issues with national effigies.

"Well... one day I'm going to get the Hokage title... I'll be the first female Hokage and then I will surpass all the previous Hokage!"

A small girl with blonde pigtails, wearing too bright orange jumpsuit, rambunctiously declaring her ambitious dream with puffed cheeks full of ramen noodles... One would have to forgive Iruka for not taking her seriously.

"Then the first step to being Hokage is to actually graduate from the academy," he gives her a pointed look, "Seriously, Naruto, you're driving me crazy. I don't think I can handle another year with you in my class."

"You have no faith at all!" She finishes her bowl with a slam. "You just wait and see tomorrow 'coz I'm gonna beat all your stupid tests!"

Good-naturedly, he gave his most bullheaded student a pat on the back before finishing his own meal.

* * *

She didn't pass. Everybody else did though. She wills herself not to care.

"Great job! That's my son!" A father yowls.

"Now, you're a man!" Says another.

"I'm so proud of you. I'm going to make you your favorite dinner." A giddy mother says.

She passed the physical portion of the exam without a hitch. Her hand-to-hand combat was above average since she could take a beating and could last longer though she lacked the finesse. Her weapons test was just average but she's always been a brawler anyway. Her scores for the written exam was a joke. She was only a few points shy of Shikamaru who fell asleep halfway through answering. So her last chance was supposed to be the ninjutsu portion but that was an epic fail.

This was supposedly her third attempt at graduating to genin but Iruka-sensei just had to include the Clone Technique for the final test. The jerk!

"Hey, that kid..." someone says.

"Yeah, that's 'the kid'," another answers, "And she's also the only one who failed."

"Well, that's a good thing."

"She shouldn't become a shinobi since she is-"

"Shhh... We're not supposed to talk about that remember?"

They were at least 25 paces away from the wooden swing she had gone to sulk. They didn't think she could hear them but Naruto had always had good hearing.

She wishes someone would make her her favorite ramen for dinner.

* * *

"Iruka-sensei is a sort of person who takes everything seriously," Mizuki-sensei tells her in an attempt to console, "You have to understand, his parents were killed when he was young and he had to take care of everything himself."

Naruto purses her lips. "I never knew that," she says somberly. "People told me my mom and dad died when the Fox Demon attacked... but if Iruka-sensei is like me then why does he only pick on me?!"

"Because he probably sees himself exactly in you," Mizuki answers sagely, "He's probably thinking he wants to see you become strong in the real way."

"But..." she wants to protest. She wants to believe that Iruka was a bully out to get her-that he purposely did not want her to graduate.

"Try to understand Iruka's feelings since you also have no parents."

"But I just want to graduate..." she whispers more to herself.

"You know what..." Mizuki starts enthusiastically after a short pregnant pause, "I'll tell you a special secret."

This catches Naruto's attention. She listens intently.

Mizuki-sensei is taking too long to join her in their rendezvous point. It has been well over 20 minutes and Naruto has never been known for her patience.

She's also brimming with curiosity. Mizuki-sensei told her the big fat scroll was filled with powerful nin techniques. He was going to teach her privately so that he could recommend her for a remedial test that would gain her a forehead protector.

Mizuki-sensei was clearly the cooler teacher and since it would probably take them the entire day and night, she should better start now, right?

* * *

"Let's see, the first jutsu is Kage Bunshin no Jutsu? Shadow Clone?" she reads then cringes, "What the.. Seriously?! Why does it start with the thing I'm bad at?"

She's exhausted and sore. She can practically feel her bones turning to mush. Maybe that's why the Hokage kept the scroll locked up in his personal vault because it takes too much to learn and put into application. She can only imagine what the other techniques left in the scroll can do.

She should have taken it easy. "Just a few minutes..." she tells herself between pants, brushing a sticky lock of hear from her eye, "Just take a breather Naruto, then we'll start on the second jutsu."

She realizes it was almost midday and still no Mizuki-sensei. She was starting to worry when she hears the sound of boots landing on the ground behind her. Her immediate thoughts were of Mizuki-sensei.

"... I've found you," says Iruka, breathless.

"The nose-bleeder? What are you doing here?"

"You idiot, show some respect and don't call me that!" the nin instructor howls.

"Okaaay," Naruto holds out hand in placation while the other pokes a finger in her ear, "Jeez, sensei you could have popped my ears right off-"

"Do you know what you've done?!" Iruka continues, "The entire village is looking for you!"

"I don't know what your talkin-"

"Don't even begin deny it, Naruto!" The instructor roughly grabs the large red scroll strapped to her back. "This... you stole this from the Hokage's vault. What were you thinking?!"

What is going on? Isn't Iruka-sensei here because he's going to give her her remedial test? Where's Mizuki-sensei?

"I didn't steal anything!" the blonde girl protests as her fingers clumsily tries to undo the buckles of the scroll's straps.

"Did it happen to be just lying around and you so happen to have stumbled upon it? People saw you breaking in the vault!"

"But I-I didn't..." Her eyes large and blue and pleading.

"It's one thing to play pranks, Naruto, but this is... stealing forbidden scrolls is a crime and you'll probably end up behind bars for who knows how long."

Iruka finally stops yelling, eyes full of concern for his student.

"Sensei, you have to believe me, I didn't steal this scroll!" She has finally undone the straps and has the scroll in her trembling hands. "M-Mizuki-sensei told me that he got me special permission to take it from the vault so that I could learn new techniques. He said he was going to find a way to get you to give me some remedial test so that I could graduate. I-I thought that was why you're here-"

"Wait a minute, what?" Iruka grabs both her shoulders to stop her frantic tirade. "Mizuki?"

"Yes. He said he wa-"

Naruto feels the rush of air leaving her lungs as Iruka forcefully throws her to the ground. She hears familiar swishing sounds of metal flying and several distinct thuds of metal introduced to wood.

* * *

"Nice job finding the little bitch," Mizuki says, perched on a tree.

"I see... so that's what's going on..." Iruka answers with a painful grunt. He has several kunai stuck to his person.

Naruto can not be more confused. Iruka was accusing her of theft a second ago, now Mizuki shows up calling her a bitch with an intent to kill both her and Iruka.

"Naruto!" Iruka-sensei warns, "Whatever happens...don't give him the scroll!"

"Wait, wha-!" Naruto can only gape between both instructors.

"That's a dangerous scroll with forbidden jutsu written inside! He used you..." Iruka grunts, pulling a kunai from his shoulder, "to get his hands on it!"

If betrayal has a taste, Naruto guesses it would be something like this. She definitely doesn't like it.

* * *

"Naruto," Mizuki calls her name smoothly, "There's no point in you having it. I'll tell you the truth-"

"Shut up, you asshole!" Iruka yells, pulling another kunai from his leg.

"Remember when you told me your parents died when the Fox Demon rampaged through the village?"

Naruto doesn't answer.

"And you know that the demon was sealed away, right?" Mizuki plows on though, "Since that day a special rule was created for this village."

"... a rule?" Naruto whispers. Iruka continues to throw all kinds of nasty at him.

"But that rule wasn't meant to be told to you."

"What... kind of rule?"

Mizuki snickers, "The rule is that nobody is allowed to talk about that fact that you, Uzumaki Naruto, are the Nine-tailed Fox Demon."

Naruto faintly hears Iruka yelling at her again. She can't understand him though, his voice sounds so far away.

"You understand now, right?" Mizuki continues to laugh.

"What do you mean?" she asks weakly.

"Don't play dumb, Naruto-chan," Mizuki says, smiling with all teeth, "It only means that you are the Fox Demon that killed your mom and dad... that killed Iruka's mom and dad and destroyed the entire village all those years ago!"

"You were sealed up by the Fourth-"

"Stop it, Mizuki!" Iruka shouts.

"-using that very scroll in your hands and you have been lied to by everyone!"

It doesn't make sense but somehow... it sort of does.

She remains stock still. She listens and feels a burn down her throat. She can't breath.

"Didn't you find it odd that everyone hates you?" Mizuki draws a fuma shuriken silently. "Nobody wants to be near you. You're like a disease!"

"Stop..." she pants, covering her ears. She doesn't want to hear anymore.

"And like any disease, it needs to be purged!"

The fuma sails and for the second time, Naruto is bodily slammed to the ground.

* * *

She smells the metallic scent of blood before fully realizing it's Iruka-sensei's weight pushing her down. His face is pale and blood is dribbling down his chin.

He struggles to rise. Naruto sees the fuma shuriken protruding from his back.

"Sensei!" She panics. Why? Why? Why?

"My... My parents..." Iruka struggles to speak. "After they died there was no one to... compliment or acknowledge me..."

Naruto's chest burns. Her throat closes. She doesn't dare move. Why me? Why me?

"I always acted like an idiot just to get people's attention," he says, managing a bloody smile, "And since I wasn't good at learning or homework, I kept at it... It was better than nothing."

She feels hot tears, not her own, dripping down her cheeks. Why...?

"Naruto, you must also have been in a lot of pain... I'm sorry... If I only did a better job... You wouldn't have to feel like this..."

She runs away.

* * *

She's so small. Just a girl with large eyes so scared and confused and angry with the world.

She has never known the love of a parent or a kind affection from a friend. She has been all alone her entire life, deprived and abused. Now she knows why.

"Naruto isn't the type to have a change of heart," says the sniveling traitor, "She'll be planning to use the scroll to get revenge."

"You think you're such a fuckin' genius, don't know?" Iruka sneers, reaching for the fuma on his back and pulls, "But you got it all wrong. Naruto isn't like that."

"You kidding me, right? You saw those eyes earlier. Those were a demon's eyes!"

"She's just a girl!" Iruka yells.

"You know what-fuck it! I'll take care of you after I kill her." Mizuki leaps out of the way of his own fuma.

* * *

Lies... Lies... All lies!

She's not a demon. She just someone who likes to play pranks on people and eat ramen.

She's not a murderer. She just a poor orphan who so happens to celebrate her birthday on the exact same day people commemorate an unfortunate tragedy.

She's not a monster. She just a despicable little girl whom parents warn their children not to play with, whom teacher despise teaching because she's just that dumb and undesirable.

Everything... Everyone... Lies!

* * *

"You're really something, you know," Mizuki snickers again, "You'd even transform into what killed your parents just to protect her."

Iruka feels his energy dwindling. The Kawarimi Technique should not have taken so much out of him but it did. His back is bleeding profusely, staining the tree he's slumped against. If he doesn't find medical attention soon, his body will go into shock and die.

"I won't hand the scroll over to someone like you," Iruka says, spitting blood.

The fair-haired instructor shakes his head in disbelief. "She's got to you... Don't you understand, Iruka? It was only a matter of time before she starts remembering who she really was and there's no way that demon wouldn't try to use the power of the scroll."

"Yeah... the Fox Demon would do that..." Iruka struggles to keep upright and awake. He still needs to save Naruto. "But not Naruto. She's my student... I know her. She's not the Fox Demon. She's a member of the Hidden Leaf Village..."

Umino Iruka smiles genuinely. "She's Uzumaki Naruto."

Everything happened in a blur. Mizuki did not stand a chance.

* * *

He was about to kill Iruka for intervening when she came out of no where, throwing herself like a cannonball and knocking the fair-haired nin across the clearing. It angered the traitor, turning his fuma shuriken against her. But before he could nick a skin off her neck, a hundred or so Narutos popped out, filling the small forest clearing with blonde hair and bright orange jumpsuits-the Shadow Clone Technique. It might have been the blood-loss, the light-headedness, but Iruka could not help the small dopey smile from appearing on his face upon realizing his dead-last pupil learned and perfectly executed a B-ranked ninjutsu in half a day.

Now the traitor lies a bloody pulp on the ground with the real Naruto hovering above him. She has her fist clenched on a blade, ready to strike. Her face is stone with eyes blazing blue fire.

"Naruto..." Iruka calls for her.

She's trembling but doesn't move.

"Naruto..." he calls her again, grunting as he manages to stand up.

She still doesn't acknowledge him and Iruka begins to fear for the worst.

"You don't have to do it," he says cautiously.

Her eyes flicks to his direction. He sees a storm brewing behind her eyes with hurt, confused and angry. She grips the blade tighter.

"Am I a monster?" she asks too quietly.

Iruka vehemently shakes his head, "Never," he says.

She looks back to Mizuki, taking a small step forward. "I'd skin him alive if I were-"

"But you're not!" Iruka grabs her shoulders. She's surprised at how quickly he crossed the filled without her noticing.

"It's true?" she croaks, eyes falling to her feet.

"It's..." Iruka finds himself lost for words. "Naruto, listen... the Nine-tailed Fox Demon was a powerful creature. The things your read about it in the books doesn't compare to how it actually was... I was there and it practically bulldozed the entire village to the ground."

Naruto trembles. "I know..." she says.

Iruka kneels, ignoring the pain shooting through his injured leg. "That day, I remember everybody dying... including my parents," Iruka continues as the first tear drops from Naruto's blue eyes. "And many more would've been killed if not for the Fourth Hokage. He made a desperate move, Naruto, a sacrifice to save the village... but in our grief and hatred we completely forgot that sacrifice... who it was."

He pushes her chin up, wiping away the tears as his own eyes started to water. "I'm so sorry, Naruto... You are not the monster, we are. Because we were unfair and cruel to you. You deserved better than us."

"Sensei!" The instructor makes a move to kowtow but the blonde girl is quicker to intercept with a desperate embrace.

* * *

_Bakunawa's Corner: Don't own Naruto. This is Un-beta-ed._


	2. Chapter 2

Life sure looks different since she knew about the truth of her... "condition". She likes to think it's a "condition", like a birth defect. Like having six toes on each foot or having a very large and very hairy mole on your face or a "brain anomaly" that makes you act like you're four years old when you're actually very close to thirty.

Takashima-san's son, Kenta, from three blocks over, acts like that. She has never understood why Kenta-kun does what he does; it was never explained to her correctly because people normally won't point his "conditions" out. It makes them uncomfortable. They either ignore this fact, ignore him, or if they're polite and kind enough, they talk to him or give him a treat or something.

So, yeah, since finding out she has a "condition", her life makes a lot more sense.

* * *

"And now, Kakashi's Team Seven, you next duty is..." the Hokage pauses, shuffling papers before picking one off, "Hmmm... Babysitting an elder's grandson, shopping in the neighboring village and potato digging. You'll be deployed a-"

"No! No no no no!" Naruto cries out, "I heard genin usually take easy jobs but seriously? _Potato digging_?"

She hears someone groan but pays no heed. "I'd totally take the babysitting if it was some daimyo's grandkid were taking about but this is getting ridiculous. I want to do something, you know, more incredible than this. Find us another mission, old man!"

"Show some respect, you idiot!" exclaims Iruka.

The blonde genin opens her mouth to protest but is quickly shushed with a firm knock on the head from her jounin-mentor.

"Besides," Iruka continues, sitting back down, "You're still just a rookie. Everyone starts off with the simple missions. You just have to work your way up."

"But these are the crappiest type," still Naruto whines, "What kind of shinobi does potato-digging for a living?"

"Will you just shut up, Naruto?" Haruno Sakura hisses, nudging her on the shoulder, "You're getting us into trouble."

"You shut up," Naruto hisses back, rubbing her sore head, "You're the one who keeps going on and on about getting too tanned and sweaty because most of our missions required going outside."

The pinkette sputters like a fish, "I-I do not-"

"Hey, don't lie-"

"So annoying," grunts their other teammate, Uchiha Sasuke.

Sakura was about to whine again but the Hokage himself interrupts with a cough.

"Ehmmm... It would seem that I have to explain to you what these missions are all about," the wizened Hokage speaks, "Please pay attention. As you may well know, shinobi are highly trained covert soldiers in the service of our nation's daimyo. For centuries, we have honed our skills for a wide spectrum of situations-be it espionage, sabotage, assassinations to open combat and warfare."

He takes a deep breath from his pipe and blows out softly before proceeding, "But what you need to understand is that you are living in a time of peace. Not much need for our deadlier skill sets nowadays and since we are an entire village full of professional shinobi, we might as well all starve to death. The daimyo has practically ceased funding us and, Kami knows, he still owes us money since the last war."

Another pause, another puff of smoke. "That is why we turn to these simple missions. What you call the crappiest missions, Naruto, has kept this village floating for years."

* * *

By the end of the day, she gets what she wished for. The Hokage gives them a C-ranked escort mission, though, not for some nobleman or rich merchant as she thought it would be. They get to bodyguard a drunk bridge builder named Tazuna until he reaches his home country to the east of Fire Country. Naruto was excited nonetheless for she has never been beyond the borders of her village.

* * *

"You should have at least showed a little bit of decorum, Naruto," Iruka chides, "You were talking to the village chief for crying out loud. You can't just call him 'old man' to his face. You have to address him with respect."

"It's totally cool, sensei!" Naruto waves him off while waiting for her first bowl of miso ramen. "Hokage-jiji and me are totally cool since... I don't know, forever. He really doesn't mind if I call him an old geezer or something."

Iruka sighs heavily through his nose. He is more resigned by now to the fact that the blonde menace beside him has little to no sense of propriety.

"And besides," she adds softly, "He still owes me a lot more explanation about... you know."

Iruka pauses, caught off guard.

"I'm still kinda pissed off he hasn't offered much above an apology and what the... you know... what it is and what happened years ago with the Fourth and the Fourth being my... you know... argh, I'm just gonna stop right now!"

"It's okay," Iruka says gently, ruffling her tied hair, "I'm sure he only wants what's best for you."

She swats his hand away, protesting loudly, "Now, I gotta fix my hair again!"

Their order arrives and Naruto leaves her wild hair undone in favor of a big steaming bowl of noodle goodness.

* * *

"Hey, am I really going to be safe with this brat," Tezuna grumbles to Kakashi while opening another bottle of beer as they begin the first leg of their journey to Wave Country.

"You don't need to worry," the jounin-mentor says reassuringly, smiling behind his mask.

But Naruto hears him. She always has a keen sense of hearing. "That's right, old man," she says, turning around and marching up to face the old builder, "This brat is going to protect you and one day, she's going to take one the super elite ninja title of Hokage, so you better remember her name. It's Uzumaki Naruto, got it!"

"Hokage, huh?" Tezuna snorts, "That's the name for your leader, right? I doubt someone like you could become it."

"Just shut up and wait! You're going to eat up what you said when I do become Hokage, believe it!"

* * *

"So this guy-the client-he's from Wave Country, right? Where is that?"

Iruka rolls his eyes royally before answering, "Weren't you listening to any of my lectures? No wait-don't answer that. Of course, you weren't."

"Just the boring sh-tuff," she says through a mouthful of ramen, "So are you going to tell me where Wave Country is?"

"It's a small island nation east of Fire Country. It's not that far from here-a day and a half trek from here to a trading port and then maybe less than half a day by boat to reach the island. Your jounin-mentor will get you there."

"Don't they have a ninja village of there own?" the blonde asks.

"If you were listening in class then you'd know the answer is no. Wave Country is too small a nation to hold it's own hidden village. They are a fishing and trading country and rely heavily on other countries, like the Fire Country and Water Country, for commerce and the occasional ninja services from their respective hidden villages."

"So that's why that old drunk what's-his-name came here."

"His name is Tezuna-san. And yes, it's not uncommon for citizens from Wave to come to us for assistance as long as the price is right. Why so curious all of a sudden? It's so unlike you."

"Hey, I'm always curious as long as it's interesting. But when you're in classroom-lecture-mode, you tend to not keep anything interesting long enough. And you're voice does this buzzing nasal thing that's so annoying-"

"I do not!"

* * *

Sasuke knew something was bound to happen. He should have realized it after Kakashi started reassuring everyone that C-ranked missions do not call for any ninja combat. Sakura had been too giddy at the knowledge they won't be meeting any foreign shinobi but Sasuke caught that pained look from their client.

It was a fleeting cringe on Tezuna's face. It happened yesterday and the dark-haired boy did not pay mind to it at the time... until two menacing-looking ninjas came out of nowhere and ripped their jounin-mentor to pieces.

* * *

"One down," she hears one of them say. Then they are gone in a flash.

The next thing she feels is a sudden rush of air from behind, a loud churning of metal, and a frightening whisper, "Two down."

Naruto is frozen on the spot.

* * *

They're going to kill the blonde, he knows. Uchiha Sasuke doesn't so much as think on what to do. Only that he has two unknown enemy nin before him and they have to be stopped.

Taking a leap to the air to hurl a kunai, Sasuke is able to tack the bladed chain to a nearby tree, preventing the unnamed ninjas from decimating Naruto to pieces.

With perfect timing and coordination, he lands feet first on their heads. Instinct and training drives him to grab one clawed gauntlet with an intention to slam it to the other's face.

* * *

Naruto remains unmoved, watching the entire scene unfold.

_What am I waiting for? _

Sasuke almost has them but the enemy nins easily detach their shuriken chain and they leap for the opposite directions before the dark-haired genin can use their own weapons against themselves.

_Why can't I move?_

* * *

Sakura has never seen such coordinated combat. The menacing unnamed enemy ninjas seem to read each other minds, one running towards Naruto with an extended claw while the other heads straight for Tezuna-san.

Sakura's training kicks in. Quickly drawing out a kunai, she steps in front of the client to shield him from the enemy.

_I'm gonna die I'm gonna die I'm gonna die ..._

* * *

The girls are just too slow. Naruto is even petrified on the spot. And the only one showing any kind promise is the Uchiha.

Kakashi sighs internally. It's going to take a lot of work and teaching is not cut out for him, he's sure.

_Better save them now... _

* * *

"Nice job, Sasuke," she hears their jounin-mentor praise their only male teammate as he ties the enemy ninjas to a tree.

She couldn't do anything. She can still feel her knees trembling. _The fuck is wrong with me?_

It happened so fast... And yet her teammate was able to fight in his first real battle with an enemy shinobi. He even saved her life.

"Hey," Sasuke asks, jarring her out of her thoughts, "You alright, scaredy cat?"

Naruto can only grind her teeth and clench her hands tightly. The smug bastard just had to rub on it. He looks like nothing happened. No sweat at all.

"Naruto," Kakashi turns his attention to the blonde, "Sorry, I couldn't help you out in time. It got you injured."

She hasn't even notice her injury until now: a bloody gash on the back of her left hand.

"Don't move too much or the poison will spread through your body faster."

Everybody else snaps to attention while Naruto hisses, "_Shit_!"

* * *

"I don't feel any different so I'm _fine_, okay?" She protests too loudly, tucking her hand behind her back.

"The claws were soaked in poison. It's a common one but we have to remove it quickly," the jounin-mentor informs her calmly.

He gives Sakura a small pouch with instructions to give Naruto two of the small green pills and let her wound bleed out as much as it can.

The pink-haired girl bounds over to her injured teammate and Kakashi turns his attention to the old bridge builder.

"Tezuna-san, may I speak with you?," the jounin-mentor asks almost too politely, "Our mission was to simply protect you from thieves and gangs, am I correct?"

"Yeah, so?" the old drunk asks, "I guess, you've done a pretty good job about it. Got my money's worth if you ask me!" He laughs out loud before bringing another bottle of beer to his lips.

"You don't seem to understand," the jounin-mentor continues, "These guys are chuunin-level shinobi of the Village Hidden in Mist and if my sources are correct, they are very tenacious in combat."

"Then why did you let the brats fight them when you knew they were that dangerous?"

"Because I wasn't entirely sure who their target was and you never mentioned shinobi running after you in your contract."

Tezuna of Wave Country visibly pales under Kakashi's scrutiny.

"I'm sure you have your reasons but lying about the mission details causes a lot of problems. And with this turn of events, a simple bodyguard mission has turned into a B-ranking mission. possibly A-rank. It's not uncommon in the field, mind you."

Kakashi takes a moment to look over his proteges, particularly at the protesting blonde girl.

"I took the pills already! I'll be fine, seriously!" Naruto exclaims, a hand on Sakura's shoulder to stop her from approaching while her left hand is clenched behind her.

"Naruto," Kakashi calls, "Let Sakura treat your hand. It's either that or we'd have to abort this mission, go home and let the medics take a look at you."

"What?! No way!"

"Then let me help you, you idiot!" Sakura roughly grabs the blondes left wrist.

Kakashi turns his attention back to Tezuna. "I need to report this to my superiors immediately. Another team will be hear to pick them up," he juts a chin to the still unconscious enemy nin.

"And the contract?" the old man asks.

"My team will still accompany you until we reach Wave Country but changes will have to be made. The Hokage will have to decide on that. Until then we will be operating outside of our mission parameters."

* * *

"It was just a tiny scratch," Naruto whines, trying to pull her hand away. But Sakura has a good grip on her wrist and a clean wipe on the other.

"Will you hold still for a second because we have to... let... you... wait, what?"

Wiping away the blood and dirt reveals clear unscathed skin.

"I heal very quickly, okay?" Naruto snatchs her hand away while her assigned medic is dumbfounded.

"But the... poison," she says, confused as hell, "We still haven't let you bleed out the poison..."

"Oh, for crying out loud..."

Naruto wields a kunai and stabs her left hand, alarming the pink-haired girl to step back as she pushes the blade deeper.

"It's bleeding," she offers her hand back to her teammate, kunai plunged through, "Better keep it in, else it'll close up in a minute."

"A-are you... seriously... crazy?" Sakura is visible shaken by this behavior from her normally air-headed teammate.

"How long do you think I have to keep it in, Sakura, because it fuckin' hurts, you know?!" Naruto snaps at the other girl before her glare fell to the other teammate standing next to their bound enemies.

They locked eyes for a long moment before Sasuke looks away, mouthing something like, "How dramatic."

* * *

Half way through her second bowl of miso ramen she speaks again, "He thinks I can't handle it."

Iruka gives her an inquisitive hum for her to continue.

"Hokage-jiji, I know he's protecting me. I think, I kinda understand that... but when I ask how to get rid of it, he... froze, I guess. He said no one has ever survived an 'extraction' but I knew he was stalling then. He's hiding something. He also won't allow me into the archives and I'm pretty sure he's gonna triple the security since I've already broken in once."

She turns to him expectantly, her bowl between her fingers nearly forgotten. Her academy instructor turns to her, giving her his full attention with a hand on her shoulder.

"I can't offer you much right now. I may have been your teacher for years but I honestly don't have the answers to these questions."

Naruto's face fall, silently disappointed.

"I may not agree with Hokage-sama for keeping all these things from you for so long. You've had a rough time because of it but remember that it has kept you safe so far. There are people with... not so good intentions. They'd rather see _that,"_ his eyes drops to her belly and back up again to look in her blue eyes, "They'd rather see _you_ as a weapon to use for destruction and chaos and not a person. I think, Hokage-sama wants you to be your own person, living a life as normal as you can get."

Her eyes are wide clear blue. _And you? __What do_ you_ want from me?_

* * *

Uzumaki Naruto has a "condition" that people do not talk about because it is forbidden by law.

She was told not to talk about it to anyone else, besides her former academy teacher and the Hokage, to keep her safe.

She doesn't talk about it because, it makes people like Sasuke uncomfortable. And basing on Sakura's reaction, scared shitless too.

And so she has and always will be ignored and neglected. And if people are kind enough they talk to her and give her treats or something.

Yeah... her life makes a lot of fucking sense now.

* * *

_tbc_


End file.
